Game Thread: Twins (Keuchel) v Rays (Bradley), 9/13/23 @ 12:10 CT

[SwainZag]

1 minute ago, Azviking101 said:

The twins just don’t take pitches anymore lol. If it’s anywhere near the zone they’re swinging hard. 

The Twins are 2nd in the AL and 5th in the league in walks.  Taking pitches is subjective.  If Castro goes up there looking for a fastball in the zone and gets it on the first pitch and grounds out, can you really fault him?  Not all hitters, especially strike out prone hitters are great at working the count.  Watching good pitches go by only to get fooled on an 0-2 count isn't where it's at.

It's why throwing 1st pitch strikes is so huge.  You get swings which could lead to outs, or you get ahead in the count.

[Jocko87]

Rut Roh

[Parfigliano]

Just now, Jocko87 said:

Rut Roh

Say goodnight  Dallas.

[wabene]

The Rays play by play guys are going to tell us about Floro after the break. This should be good, lol.

[CRF]

Didn't get the start we all were hoping for from Keuchel. I don't know if Floro is going to keep us in the game, but Rocco better keep the pen on red alert. 

[Road trip]

From the frying pan to the fire.  Not sure why we'd be using Floro in a tight game given how badly he has pitched lately.

[umterp23]

Floro in is not ideal

[Cap'n Piranha]

4 minutes ago, IaBeanCounter said:

I agree, but not because of today.  Defense gave TB 3 runs.  

 

I'm glad the Twins called him up as they have won 5 of the 6 games he appeared in.  One of the wins was in spite of a bad outing by Kuechel.  Kuechel is a starter and as such needs to come in at the start of an inning if he is pitching relief.  I would rather have Funderburk than Kuechel of the postseason roster.

It's an interesting take to be sure.  I seem to remeber near-unanimity on this site when Funderburk was brought in to face Kold Calhoun in the 11th, and promptly gave up a 3 run homer, that using a rookie in a moment of that magnitude was a mistake.  It will be a much bigger moment if he's used in the postseason.

[IaBeanCounter]

Just now, Road trip said:

From the frying pan to the fire.  Not sure why we'd be using Floro in a tight game given how badly he has pitched lately.

Maybe Rocco hopes Floro will have the opposite result of Monday's appearance.

[Jocko87]

Nice play Floro.  Nice try Royce.

[Jocko87]

Just now, Jocko87 said:

Nice play Floro.  Nice try Royce.

Oh shoot, great play Royce.  Nice challenge.

[Cap'n Piranha]

8 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

It's what the pebble does to the ball, causing a fielder to have to make an extraordinary effort to make the play.  The sun doesn't make an action on the ball.

A high pop fly in windy conditions can be an error but can very easily be called a hit if the fielder got gusted.  The wind would cause the play to be tougher so its the ordinary effort standard again.

I would like to be having these discussions about errors but whats being called now is so far from any standard its impossible to tell.  The scoring correction twitter feed is very busy.

Assuming I agree with that (I don't, but it at least has some consistent internal logic), how about a sitution where a runner leaving from second passes in between a shortstop and the batted ball, causing him to lose sight of it, and miss the pickup off the bounce?  Is that an error, as there was no action on the ball?

[Parfigliano]

So much for all that talk about TB running everything out.  That guy jogged to 1st

[Road trip]

That may be the all time bad "run hard to first base" effort.

[IaBeanCounter]

6 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

It's an interesting take to be sure.  I seem to remeber near-unanimity on this site when Funderburk was brought in to face Kold Calhoun in the 11th, and promptly gave up a 3 run homer, that using a rookie in a moment of that magnitude was a mistake.  It will be a much bigger moment if he's used in the postseason.

I agree that using Funderburk against Calhoun was a Rocco special.  Should have allowed Pagan to face him as Funderburk had only one MLB previous appearance.  I would rather have Funderburk come into that situation than Kuechel as Funderburk is used to coming in with men on base, Kuechel isn't. 

[Parfigliano]

Just now, Parfigliano said:

So much for all that talk about TB running everything out.  That guy jogged to 1st

A Dick jinx in TC favor for a change

[Cap'n Piranha]

11 minutes ago, 9moons27 said:

Kiriloff is kind of a dud. He's done nothing since reactivation.

This is literally his 5th game since coming back.  Way too small of a sample size to start calling him a dud.

[wabene]

1 minute ago, Parfigliano said:

So much for all that talk about TB running everything out.  That guy jogged to 1st

They didn't pull any punches on the Rays broadcast for the rookie and then praised Royce for his heads up play

[Guest]

Alright I’ve seen enough, give floro a 10 year 400 million extension 

[Jocko87]

1 minute ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

Assuming I agree with that (I don't, but it at least has some consistent internal logic), how about a sitution where a runner leaving from second passes in between a shortstop and the batted ball, causing him to lose sight of it, and miss the pickup off the bounce?  Is that an error, as there was no action on the ball?

My interpretation of that play is that if its a relatively normal hop and you get a glove on it you get an error.  The runner doesn't matter to the scoring or the play.  Not getting a glove on a ball makes a lot of scoring decisions easy.

[tony&rodney]

Sort of a funny game thus far. Some mistakes, some good hitting, and some missed chances. Wonder if the Twins can pick up the intensity a bit through the remainder of the game.

[Jocko87]

2 minutes ago, wabene said:

They didn't pull any punches on the Rays broadcast for the rookie and then praised Royce for his heads up play

There is something to that and the reputation that they don't make that mistake. 

[insagt1]

players will smugly tell you that they aren't scoreboard watching....I will tell you the Orioles are scoreboard watching today and I suspect Cleveland is too. They aren't kidding anymore.

Come on Twins...get this one back with some clutch hits...and make contact!

[Cap'n Piranha]

3 minutes ago, IaBeanCounter said:

I agree that using Funderburk against Calhoun was a Rocco special.  Should have allowed Pagan to face him as Funderburk had only on MLB previous appearance.  I would rather have Funderburk come into that situation than Kuechel as Funderburk is used to coming in with men on base, Kuechel isn't. 

Funderburk has pitched 6 innings in the majors.  Keuchel has pitched 1600.  I disagree that Funderburk is more experienced at pitching with men on base, as I don't think there is any difference between pitching with men on base because someone else put them there, as opposed to you.

[mrtwinsfan]

17 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

Well, Thielbar is your top lefty, but he's also possibly your 3rd best reliever, so you don't want to use him in the 5th or 6th to get a lefty or two.  You're saying you'd rather use Headrick or Funderburk in a pressure-packed postseason appearance than Kuechel?

Funderburk --yes   Headrick  like Dallas  no use for either in Playoffs

[mrtwinsfan]

14 minutes ago, wabene said:

The Rays play by play guys are going to tell us about Floro after the break. This should be good, lol.

Another one  who shouldnt see a Playoff roster for sure

[Cap'n Piranha]

4 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

My interpretation of that play is that if its a relatively normal hop and you get a glove on it you get an error.  The runner doesn't matter to the scoring or the play.  Not getting a glove on a ball makes a lot of scoring decisions easy.

The you didn't really consider the play.  The runner blocked the fielder, causing him to miss the the ball.  Is it an error?  Also, the idea that a ball hitting a glove makes it an error is a silly one.  You're saying that if Kepler had completely whiffed on getting his glove on that ball, you would no longer consider it an error?

[Parfigliano]

Julien should be running

[Guest]

billy bean would be salivating over Julien 

[tony&rodney]

Julien swung at a pitch on the edge ... and missed and then took a couple of close pitches before taking ball four. I wish he could hit line drives on the first pitch but man it is fun to watch him work the pitcher.